


ichor and blood

by Storm_Clouds_and_Starshine



Category: DIgimon Story Cyber Sleuth - Fandom, Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Story Series | Digimon World Series, Digimon World Re:Digitize Decode, Digimon World Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Girls, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Familiars, Gen, Kamishiro Yuuko and Kamishiro Yuugo Are Twins, Kishibe Rie Is A Good Person, M/M, More likely than you'd think, a pile of determination and tears, and also coffee, and self-sacrifice, and the decode is the "true" and strongest magic, but My Style, but not kyoko's coffee, for more character interactions and growth whoop, in which there is magic, magical girl au, me? making new character and relationship tags?, meaning i won't make myself write a bunch, mirei is the mentor person bc she actually knows what's going on, shipping isn't a focus but it is there, short chapters bc this is a for fun fic, taiga is so confused, the GOOD coffee, updating at way too late at night, what is takumi?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:47:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23813278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storm_Clouds_and_Starshine/pseuds/Storm_Clouds_and_Starshine
Summary: In which there is magic, Rina and Taiga are more powerful than they look, Yuu is haunted by mistakes not his own, Yuuko sacrifices her own future for the sake of her brother, Kyoko and Rie watch and wait as the universe shifts and twists, Takumi continues to break the world for the sake of others, and Mirei sits upon her seat above the realm of mortals and wonders how she can salvage the mess that might come of the future.
Relationships: Amazawa Keisuke/Nogi Yuu, Kamishiro Yuuko & Kamishiro Yuugo, Kamishiro Yuuko & RizeGreymon (Cyber Sleuth), Nikolai "Niko" Yakovich Petorov & Taiga (Digimon World), Shinomiya Rina & Taiga (Digimon World), Shinomiya Rina & V.V. | VeeVee, Taiga (Digimon World) & Digimaru
Comments: 7
Kudos: 14





	1. I - Principio

**Author's Note:**

> hi. i bet you're wondering why i've made this and not the next chapter of the miracles verse. (and if you're not then don't worry, you're valid). the answer is i made this as a sort of stress relief for when i'm too tired to write 6k chapters. also, i've had this au for a while and wanted to write it.
> 
> don't ask where this came from because i honestly don't know. i'm having fun with it anyways. 
> 
> chapters will probably be under 2k, since my goal with this fic is to write it seriously but also not force myself to write a whole bunch. so, with that said, i hope you enjoy what i have!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rina and Taiga learn of magic - one takes this well, the other does not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Principio" means "the beginning"

The day started like normal. It didn’t end like normal, but it started like normal, and the middle was  _ kind of _ normal, and right now she was clinging to the bits of normal because what was going on right now definitely  _ wasn’t _ normal.

  
  


I mean, unless you considered you and the one kid in your class you hadn’t spoken to  _ all _ too much being whisked up in some kind of light, taken to some in-between time place, and told by a woman with the messiest lavender hair and a sleek silver laptop that she and her classmate had magic, were the only ones to have “true” magic in the entire world for a  _ long _ time, and that the both of you were to be magical girls.

  
  


Her classmate, Taiga, she thought his name was, just looked at the woman and gave her a flat “what”.

  
  


For Rina’s credit, at least being put in the in-between time place, where everything in the outside world had stopped and she, Taiga, and the woman were the only ones moving, meant that she was able to grab her phone from where it’d been flying after she’d tripped. Also, there was a small blue dragon with gold eyes looking at her, and a little orange dinosaur with green eyes looking at Taiga, so if they weren’t proof of this oddness being real then she wasn’t sure what.

  
  


“Well, I’m gonna need a different hoodie to carry you around in.” Rina mused to herself as she picked up the blue dragon.

  
  


Taiga’s head whipped around to look at her. “Shinomiya-san, you’re just going to  _ accept _ this?!” his dinosaur (because the dinosaur reminded Rina quite a bit of Taiga, just like the dragon that she knew was a dragon reminded her of her) was steadily climbing up his legs and torso. Rina wasn’t sure that Taiga noticed.

  
  


Rina shrugged. “I mean it’s not like denial will do us too much good.” She saw Taiga slump down slightly. “Besides, if we accept it sooner than we can ask about it sooner and learn more about how it works so that we don’t get into too much trouble, right?”

  
  


Taiga sighed. “I hate that you’re right.” 

  
  


The woman from before, with the messy lavender hair, sighed and pinched the brdige of her nose. “I am going to have to do a lot of explaining, aren’t I?” She said, seemingly to herself.

  
  


“Yep!” Rina said cheerfully, even as the dragon in her arms started wiggling around to get a better position than the one she’s trapped him in. 

  
  


The poor woman looked like she was regretting her life decisions. At least Rina and Taiga were gonna get to learn about magic?


	2. II - In Vigilis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuu cannot sleep, and is haunted by one who wants what it cannot have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "in vigilis" means "the sleepless"

Breathe in, breathe out. In, out, in out, and don’t pay attention to the spectral thing lounging on the beanbag chair in the corner of your room.

  
  


Yuu told himself this, but it was hard to do. The foreign magic made his own simmer just below his skin, either a warning or just in fear. 

  
  


The Husk had been following him for a short while. At first it would only appear when he was on public roads, where any magic was amplified by the large amounts of people walking around. His own familiar, small enough to be a plushie and passed off as such to any who asked, would hiss at the thing whenever it got too close, mercifully being unnoticed by those around him.

  
  


But the Husk got closer. It got closer and closer each day, closer and closer and closer and Yuu was scared.

  
  


It was next to the window, now, red sleeves and baggy magenta pants of some kinda, pale cream hair and sterile white teeth that gleamed in the ambient light. Yuu thought that the Husk might have been a faithful yet deadly familiar, once, one who danced and fought in equal measure and surely would have been a welcome ally. 

  
  


But no longer. Now it was something to be feared. Void of emotion thought, compassion or empathy. It simply was a Husk, once a familiar but now dead and lifeless, now a parasite, now clinging to anyone who was close enough to its old master that it could pretend. 

  
  


The woman in white and black, lavender hair and eyes, had explained to Yuu how it all worked. Husks, familiars, how the two were so similar yet different and all dependant on the human that one was inevitably tied to. Husks were familiars - built from the magic of a human and changing as the human did - whos counterparts had died, and thus were ever-searching for something to fill that hollow empty space inside of them.

  
  


To a Husk, establishing a bond was a blessing, a chance at living again.

  
  


To those who used magic and had familiars of their own, establishing a bond was a curse, leading to madness at best and death at worse.

  
  


Husks did not lose the magic they were unchangeably tied to when they took on a new partnership. And humans were good at handling their magic - but too much was deadly. Those who didn’t die would go mad, crumbling and bending underneath the power that was too much for their minds or bodies to handle, forever doomed from a foolish choice or a misstep at the worst time.

  
  


The Husk was at the window, next to the dresser that sat between it and the foot of Yuu’s bed. Yuu’s own familiar - small, pink, comforting and safe, hissed at the Husk. Their reaction had been the same when the Husk had first started following Yuu. It had been the first time Yuu had seen his familiar look so  _ angry _ and fierce - it was not the last.

  
  


The Husk did not dare come as close when Yuu was in more public spaces, such as crowds or streets or school classrooms. Invisible as it may have been to those who did not use magic, did not hear the singing of power in their veins, there was always the chance of a magic user noticing and attacking the Husk when Yuu was unable to. So the Husk stayed somewhat away, in the corner of rooms, waiting, watching.

  
  


School was torture, knowing it was there but not being able to fight against it. It might have been easier for Yuu, if his familiar were larger and more suited to attack and battle, but alas, his own familiar was one of healing and comfort. Though Yuu could never lie and say that he didn’t appreciate what role his partner played.

  
  


School was made better, though, by Keisuke. Keisuke, not knowing everything that went on, but asked about Yuu regardless, shared study notes, was concerned for and with Yuu, who  _ cared _ for Yuu as much as Yuu cared for him. Keisuke, just the comfort of Keisuke and knowing that his boyfriend was there to be a shoulder to sleep on if his worries kept him awake all night, was a small blessing for Yuu. 

  
  


At some point Yuu thought he should check the time. He had been starting at the Husk, hoping that as long as he didn’t look away it wouldn’t move. But it must have been getting late, surely.

  
  


Yuu’s hand reached out and grabbed his phone, and he turned it on, squinting at the sudden harsh glare of light from the screen compared to the general darkness of the room before.  _ 6:23 _ . Damn. No use in trying to go to sleep, then. Yuu would have to wake up soon after in order to get ready for school anyways.

  
  


Yuu goes through his morning routine as best he can, though perhaps helped because his brain hadn’t quite registered that he was supposed to have slept.

  
  


He  _ does _ become very aware of his lack of sleep when he meets Keisuke at the crossroads between their two homes.

  
  


“Yuu, are you okay?” Keisuke asks, eyes filled with concern like they so often are.

  
  


No. “Yes,” he says. The Husk is behind him. Not too close, not at risk of riling up Yuu’s familiar, but close enough to be uncomfortable. “I just had trouble getting to sleep last night.”

  
  


Keisuke makes a noise in recognition. “Ah, so that’s why you look so tired.” they start walking to the station that they always use. “You can lean on my shoulder and try to catch up on a little bit of sleep, if you want.” The black-haired teen offered. “I’ll wake you up whenever we get close to when we need to get off the train if you fall asleep.”

  
  


Yuu gave Keisuke a grateful smile. “Thanks, Keisuke.”

  
  


“Don’t worry about it.” was the response. “I care about you, y’know?”

  
  


They arrived at the station. Got on their needed train. And Yuu sat next to Keisuke and leaned his head against Keisuke’s shoulder, sighing contently. At least he still had Keisuke, and his familiar. Even with the Husk a constant haunting presence, Yuu still had safety. And that was what made going to the next day worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyways keiyuu (keisuke and yuu) is canon in this au, because yuu deserves it.


	3. III - In Pacisci

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuko will do what she must to protect her brother, even if that means risking sanity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YUUKO!! honestly i was having fun writing this entire chapter. anyways. here's your monthly chapter  
> "in pacisci" means "the bargain"

Yuugo had been sick since they both were young. This was a fact that Yuuko knew. This she knew because she had grown up beside her twin, seen him weaken and slowly waste away.

  
  


Yuugo was sick because his body had too much magic to properly support itself, and because Yuuko had none. This was a fact that Yuuko knew. This she knew because the woman with lavender hair and eyes had quietly sat in Yuugo’s hospital room and began to explain what was going on and why none of the doctors could fix her brother’s sickness, starting with the question of “do you believe in magic?”

  
  


Yuugo had too much magic. Yuuko had none. In the womb, the woman said, he music have absorbed the magical potential that the two would otherwise have had an equal amount of. Yuugo had too much magic, and was sick, while Yuuko had none, and was the far more healthy of the two.

  
  


The woman had warned them that Husks would come after her brother. “They are magical familiars - created by magic, created to be companions, created to serve as a focus for magic - whos human partners have died. Now they seek only those who are similar to their past partners, or those whos magic is a bright enough beacon to lure them in.” She did not need to say that one with as much magic as Yuugo would inevitably be a brighter beacon than much else.

  
  


Yuuko had no magic. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t fight. Husks were constantly after her brother. Yuuko refused to let them have him. She did not see them. Yuuko could  _ feel _ them, though - spots where the world felt a bit  _ wrong _ . Had she not known of magic she would have assumed it were a trick of the mind. Instead, she focused and taught herself to be vigilant, lest her brother be taken, driven insane or dead.

  
  


There was a Husk that drew closer to her, some days. She did not know why. She did not care. Yuuko would fight it, if she must, even if she could not see or hear or touch it.

  
  


The Husk sat in front of her bed, recently. Yuuko didn’t know why. She didn’t care. A Husk following her was one less attempting to kill her brother, and that was what mattered.

  
  


The Husk followed her. Rather than swarm around her sickly twin, only held back by the waves of magic that signaled power, the Husk followed  _ Yuuko _ , a foot away, a foot away. 

  
  


The lavender-haired woman appeared, sitting on her windowsill, a week after the Husk had gotten close enough that Yuuko could feel it’s fingers brushing hers.

  
  


“The Husk is attempting to attach itself to you.” The woman said bluntly.

  
  


Well. Yuuko had been suspecting that for some time. “And if it does?” She asked the woman, sitting in front of the window while the woman sat on the windowsill still. 

  
  


The lavender haired woman hummed to herself for a moment. “I do not know what would happen.” She says. “No Husk has attached itself to one void of magic before. Perhaps you will be the first.”

  
  


“Maybe.” Yuuko said. The woman only gave a small, cryptic smile, before letting herself fall forwards off of the windowsill and onto the streets below. Yuuko knew that the woman would be fine. She had disappeared like this countless times before.

  
  


The Husk’s fingers were holding Yuuko’s own. It had gotten more bold in that short time that the woman had been on the windowsill. Yuuko looked over to where she assumed the Husk was. “She’s quite odd, that woman.” She said to the Husk. “Maybe she has something right, though.”

  
  


The Husk didn’t react. Not that Yuuko would be able to see a reaction in the first place. 

  
  


Yuuko sat, on her knees, and patted the ground. The spot of cold and stillness moved downwards as well. For several moments, neither of them moved. There was just the stillness of her room, a bed that the twins used to share before Yuugo had gotten sick, several of his old things that Yuuko had never moved because it would be wrong for them to not be in their shared room even though Yuugo hadn’t stepped into it in more than eight years. 

  
  


“Do you want to be my familiar?” She asked the Husk. There was no response. “The woman says that Husks look for and follow people who are like their previous partners. That’s why you follow me, isn’t it?” It was a question, but it wasn’t said like one. 

  
  


Yuuko reached forward and very firmly grasped the Husk’s fingers. “I know I can’t hear you, but I know that you can hear me.” She told it. “I want to protect my brother. I don’t have any magic to do that with, but if we bond and you become my familiar, then I get to use magic to protect him, and you get me.” Whatever that meant. “So . . . if you’re willing, I want to be your partner. I want you to be my familiar.” Stillness. “You don’t have to agree though.” She added in a much softer voice. “I know how it feels to not have choices. So this is a choice. You get to choose where you go from here.”

  
  


She didn’t do anything else after that. She just sat, the Husk’s fingers loose in her own, and waited.

  
  


A moment. Another. One more. And then -

  
  


Warmth. Light. A feeling that tasted like copper, a sound that felt like bright firey oranges and rusted reds. The sound of crackling flames, but gunshots, and the roar of something refusing to leave behind one they protected. She felt a sudden surge of energy, and she  _ heard _ . Magic was a song of the universe, and to hear it for the first time was like one who lived in the desert finally feeling the relief of  _ cold _ . 

  
  


Yuuko opened her eyes. 

Before her was what looked like a cross between a dinosaur and a mechanical dragon, with almost rust-colored red metal making wings and a helmet and the entire left arm being made of a mechanical gun, orange scales with stripes of blue, and auburn hair. The familiar - because she was a familiar now, no longer an it, no longer a Husk - opened her eyes, which were as golden as the sun.

  
  


The familiar -  _ Yuuko’s _ familiar - inhaled, and exhaled. “Thank you, Yuuko-san.” She said. “I have a purpose again.”

  
  


Yuuko spent a moment trying to organize her thoughts. Finally, she said a few words. “Just call me Yuuko.” She said. “And. . .” She smiled. “Thanks for giving me a way to protect my brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yuuko was very fun to write and also i love her. also rizegreymon/gaioumon (not gaioumon yet but will be) is a gal because we need more "i am perfectly capable of fighting you" women digimon that don't have designs that are Like That
> 
> also yuuko has synesthesia because i have synesthesia and describing things as sounding like or feeling like colors and such is fun


	4. Iudicium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kishibe Rie and Kuremi Kyoko navigate a business deal. Magic is at its core, as any thing could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI I LIVE I SWEAR  
> honestly i was a bit confused as to what exactly to do with this chapter but i just started writing and whee this is what happened  
> anyways rie is like "hey detective lady i need you to do a detective job for me" only not in those words and not really a job, but who cares we never get any actual detective-y jobs in cyber sleuth anyways so it's _fine_
> 
> also kamishiro enterprises is a technology and internet service - i wanna say kinda like in canon? there's no EDEN but they still have their own servers and such - like twitter or such, a platform that they own and curate and such and such. kamishiro satoru is the owner so he gets a decent chunk of the profits, and rie is still the CEO so she has some say in matters as well. i didn't need to go on a mini-tangent about this but oh well it happened

Kuremi Kyoko is not necessarily the average detective.

  
  


Aside from her rather. . .  _ unprofessional _ choice in outfit, she had been prone to several oddities in the past, the least of which included her barely-edible - if potent as all hell - coffee, or cryptic giggles. 

  
  


Perhaps that was one of the things that Rie liked about the woman, though. Among many other things. 

  
  


Still. Kuremi Kyoko was an  _ effective _ detective, even if not the epitome of professionalism. 

  
  


Rie was also suspecting (very heavily in recent times) that Kuremi Kyoko happened to be a mage. A very  _ powerful _ mage as well. It had to do with the aura, mostly - a glow of gold and black around her. As well as the fact that being in a room with the woman made the room smell of coffee (even when there was none of the drink) and of rain. And, well - it was quite a difficult feat for there to be the smell of rain when inside of a room in a building, where few windows could be opened.

  
  


Rie was a fair deal more certain of the woman’s abilities in magic when she pulled several stacks of paper to her hands without moving the hands an inch, all while sipping at a cup of coffee as she did so. Kuremi glanced at Rie and raised an eyebrow. “No screaming?” the blonde inquired, setting the paper down and pulling a pen from somewhere.

  
  


Rie shook her head. “Why would I be frightened of magic? Mikagura-san may speak of its dangers to warn those who are younger, but even she knows that those who embrace it are more likely to gain than to lose.”

  
  


Kuremi nodded, slowly. “That is true.” She set down the cup, now empty of coffee. “And you have embraced magic yourself, just as I have, yes?” It was not a question.

  
  


Rie sighed, and sat on the couch in the woman’s Agency. “Yes.” 

  
  


“How much?” the next question, expected but still a bit unnerving to hear asked with a tone that level.

  
  


“Oh, some.” Rie answered, tone light and airy. Kuremi was powerful, yes. Dangerous if she should decide to be. Rie did not want any trouble - she had a cause for coming here. 

  
  


Kuremi smiled that cryptic smile of hers, expression unchanging. “That is fair enough.”

  
  


“I have a request.” Rie asked.

  
  


“Oh?” Kuremi leaned forwards, placing an elbow on her desk where there weren’t any papers. “You are aware of my job as a  _ detective _ . I advise that whatever request you make, you make them  _ reasonable _ .” Rie did not miss the threat in her voice.

  
  


Rie stayed calm. She did not break her stillness. She had a request. “I am sure that you are aware of the existence of Husks.” She began. “Do you know much about Kamishiro Yuugo?”

  
  


Kuremi frowned, and leaned back into her seat. “I know that he is the son of Kamishiro Satoru. I know that he is sickly and has spent a significant portion of his life in the hospital. The news is always eager to bring this back up. What does the son of the owner of a technology and internet service have to do with Husks?”

  
  


Ah. So Kuremi had yet to know. Rie sighed, but pushed what lingering hesitation remained out of her mind. “He was born with too much magic.” She said bluntly. “Husks are constantly attempting to devour his mind in blind pursuit of that power, and I cannot be near him at all times to prevent that.”

  
  


“And you are asking me to do what, exactly?” 

  
  


No hesitation. No hesitation can be allowed here. “You have an assistant, yes? I would require his or your services in eliminating any Husks that you are able, preferably those of stronger power. I can pay your reward this second, if you so wish, as long as the service can be reliable and an attempt is made.”

  
  


Another smile from Kuremi. “That can be arranged. What, ah, ‘logical reason’ shall I give for the protection of Kamisiro Yuugo-kun?”

  
  


“Anything you’d like, so long as it’s reasonable.” Rie replied. “Are we in agreement?”

  
  


“We are.” Kuremi agreed. She stood, and Rie swore she saw the faintest flicker of something tall, and black-armored, grey eyes and gold accents, before it was gone. A trick of the light. “My assistant and I shall start our work tomorrow. We shall also be investigating any sources of the Husks, naturally.”

  
  


“Naturally.” Rie stood as well, making her way to the door to exit the agency. Before she did so, she turned, and faced Kuremi again. The cryptic smile remained. “We shall see how the future turns and what it holds for us, I assume.”

  
  


Kuremi simply nodded, bowing her head. “We shall.” And with those words, Rie left the Agency.

  
  


Outside the door, she leaned against the wall and sighed to herself. No going back now. No changing plans. Whether she was their mother by birth or not, Rie would  _ not _ allow Husks to prey on her children. Moment taken, she straightened, and began walking again. As current CEO of Kamishiro Enterprises, she was required for a meeting at one that afternoon. Magic could wait - Kishibe Rie had a job to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi i hope you all enjoed this and that it wasnt too rushed or such, i'm posting this at 3:22 AM because that's when i finished writing it whee
> 
> next chapter will definitely at least be next month! maybe another chapter at some random point in this month but i've been kinda burnt out on writing and taking a break so,, who knows. i make promises but only vague ones
> 
> will we ever get a proper explanation of how the magic in this world works? that depends on if mirei is feeling nice. i know that rina and taiga at least would like an explaination, though yuu is tired and yuuko is too busy beating up husks to really care. oh well
> 
> kyoko: i'm a detective so make sure you give me a job that actualy fits  
> kyoko, three seconds later: how did i know i'd get a job that's more "bodyguard" than "detective"?


	5. In Phantasma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takumi, the spectere, whose existence is not an ideal one but one he would prefer over the alternative.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOWDY HEY IT'S BEEN A MONTH  
> anyways hi. i live. 
> 
> this one is shorter (probably because its almost 2 am as i type this) but i felt like it ended at the right place, so, yknow.   
> aNYWAYS DETECTIVE BOY!! IS HERE!!! man there are so many more fics with ami tagged for them than with takumi tagged for them, it makes me kinda sad actually. i love this dork but everyone seems to prefer ami over takumi.
> 
> anyways yeah. he's here!! i tried my best to make this au version of him fit with what we get with canon so it's a thing. i'm doing my best
> 
> also we've agreed that in canon the half-digital existence was a very painful one, yes? yes? we should give takumi and ami both hugs, they need many.

Aiba Takumi was not born with magic.

  
  


He was not born with magic. He was not anything special.

  
  


And yet.

  
  


And yet.

  
  


And yet he carved out a place to hold magic out of his own flesh, carved out a piece of his own soul because he wanted to  _ help _ .

  
  


A woman in black and white, her lavender hair and eyes standing out against the monochrome, offered him a deal. Keep his magic, and live as a specter, possessing his body but not fully being  _ attached _ to it in order to use magic at all, or live in his body the way any other human did, and recover from the ill-fated car accident with no injuries and a healthy, long life.

  
  


His choice was obvious.

  
  


Being a specter was pain, but ah - the car crash had hurt worse, and it did not hurt so much when he got used to it, besides. And he had magic now. Takumi had magic at his fingertips, magic that was not supposed to be his but that he held regardless. He could  _ help _ now.

  
  


The woman shook her head and called him a fool. He shrugged, and said that he was alright with being a fool, if only he could help others.

  
  


There were lots of Husks to fight. They seemed to. . . melt into him. It was his existence itself that caused the reaction, the lavender-haired woman named Mikagura told him. He as he existed was not meant to be, and his soul fed off of the broken souls of others to keep itself together and to avoid falling apart.

  
  


Takumi thought that that was. . . kind of sad. But. he had made this choice. In the day time he went around and pretended to be human (not that it was overly hard) and did schoolwork and cooked and ate and went to the bathroom and stretched and did all the things that humans needed to do. At night he stepped out of his body and let it sleep while his soul wandered as a specter, looking for Husks to consume and to end their suffering by letting them be a  _ part _ of something as they had been back when they were Familiars. 

  
  


He did not like calling it  _ consuming _ them, but that was what it was. Husks ate the minds of any mage they decided to bond to, and he ate the entirety of the Husks. 

  
  


“You know,” Mikagura said to him one night, as her perched on the railing of the balcony of some apartment whos name he did not know, “you could have bonded to a Husk and let them regain their familiar status, with much less cost to yourself.”

  
  


“Yeah, probably.” Takumi agreed. “But if i did that, then I wouldn’t get to wander, you know? And even if I am eating the Husks, it still does put them to rest. It’s quick, and not as painful as just destroying them is, I think.”

  
  


Mikagura hummed, and fell backwards off the railing. Takumi didn’t react, choosing to gaze at the city for a while longer. Mikagura had a flair for dramatics, and her body did not die. He wondered, idly, if she was alike to him in a spectral existence, but figured that she was probably something else entirely. Maybe she  _ was _ magic, simply made of the stuff. Maybe she was a god. Maybe she was a creature or being that had no name.

  
  


After some while, when the skies began to lighten, he went back to stolling on the tops of roofs and on telephone wires back to the window that led to his room, back to where his body lay sleeping and would continue to do so until he stepped back into it. He had school tomorrow, after all, and besides, leaving his body sleeping for too long would worry his friends, and he’d hate to worry Ryouta and Sakura.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> friendly reminder: i wrote this at 2 am with no proofreading. be gentle
> 
> also i have no real thought-out plot for this series but hey, does it need one? not really!  
> regardless.
> 
> anyways quick note - the difference between "true magic" and the magic that everyone else has (aka taiga and rina's magic vs everyone else's) is that those with "true magic" are the only ones who can do the magical girl transformation thing. everyone else just, has magic. but taiga and rina get to have Extra Magic with the transformations and frilly dresses and such. so that's A Thing
> 
> also mirei isnt a big bad i promise that, but she's also not specifically benevolent? she's more of an ambiguous force who just kinda makes sure that the people who have magic or are _aware_ that they have magic know enough of what they're doing so that they don't break a building or something, y'know?
> 
> also to that one commenter saying that rie wasn't a crusader in this au: _we shall see_


	6. In Spectet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one who watches, and knows many, many answers. The one who is dead and yet not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise update! got a random burst of inspiration and just wrote this real quick yesterday. mirei's POV was surprisingly fun to write.
> 
> also yes she is still dead in this universe. poor thing. at least she can talk to people and interact with the real world, right?
> 
> chapter title means "the onlooker"

Mikagura Mirei is not someone who belongs to this world.

  
  


She did, once. Once. Before, when she was an intern, a life ahead of her, working hard because she enjoyed the work even if some days her fingers ached from typing so much and her back ached from sitting in the chairs of an office all day, when her hair was much longer and she was perhaps a bit younger and less weary of the world -

  
  


Before.

  
  


She is not someone who belongs to this world. She knows this. Has come to accept it. Still, some days the fact grates at her, pulls her down and down into despair and darker thoughts that make her wonder why she still exists when she has been dead for three years. It has been three years of living like this. She doesn’t want to stay here forever, in this half-alive state.

  
  


She has her two cats, an Angel and a Demon and sometimes one being that holds shades of both. Her familiars are not  _ hers _ , truly - instead they were a gift, given by the goddess that wanders through that liminal space between magic and the absence of such, walking the line between reality and nonexistence. She claimed not to be a goddess, but Mirei had no other word to describe the girl who had appeared and gently placed the two cats in Mirei’s arms, so goddess would be the word for the odd girl instead.

  
  


Mirei sits upon a throne, higher than one that the morals can see, higher than even those with their true magic, rare as it is. It is not due to her being made of magic, or some other rules that those she has talked to might think. She simply is dead, refusing to die, and so she stays in the humans’ world, somehow, through sheer force of will, and watches as those with magic go about and try to make some sense of their own situation. It is quite entertaining, sometimes. 

  
  


Regardless.

  
  


There are things that are happening, now. Interesting ones.

  
  


Mirei found two children with true magic running in their blood. A day later and one without magic bonds to a Husk to gain magic - and the spectere who tore himself apart was now doing so needlessly. Mirei had not checked in on the other various magic users, but there were those who could become a problem, and she would need to do so at some point.

  
  


A sigh, as she sat on the railing of an apartment balcony, clothes and hair and skin remaining dry even as the rain poured around her, as did her prized laptop. She would have to get moving soon, to make contact with all those that she needed to. Still, she would let herself have a few moments of rest, just this small moment. Just a moment of rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mirei needs a hug.
> 
> also is she gonna try and fix takumi so that he doesn't die? mayhaps.
> 
> also i. do not remember most of what i rambled about in last chapter's end notes oOPS


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taiga and Rina decide to trust a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its still technically august 1 for me so yeet  
> have two updates in a day! one here, one for the miracles verse!!
> 
> this one is short but sometimes you need shorter stuff yknow?  
> anyways hi niko and taiga are friends. you cant change my mind

Taiga slumped into his seat in the classroom, for a few moments letting his head hit the desk. Then, begrudgingly, he raised it, and sighed.

“Something up?” Niko asked.

“You’d think I was crazy if I told you.” Taiga said, exhaustion in his voice. The past few days had been more tiring than he’d thought they could get. Running around, fighting Husks, the strange woman from before insisting that he and Rina meet some other people who apparently didn’t have true magic but also had faimilars of their own, and that they all form a team for whatever reason. One of the girls had a familiar that was large and powerful and had black and red armor and curved twin swords. Taiga wished his little orange dinosaur was that cool. It was a bit mean to the thing, who was only a baby, but still. 

“Try me.” Niko said, turned towards Taiga from his desk besides they boy and resting his elbows on the desk. 

“After school? It’s kinda weird and I don’t want people to think I’m insane or something.” Taiga tried to keep some of the hysteria he felt out of his voice. It’d been not even a week and his life had already gotten crazy. He did want to tell Niko, though, so that at least one other person knew, even if Niko didn’t have magic (according to the purple-haired woman at least).

“Okay.” Niko agreed. “After school. You and Shinomiya-san, yeah?”

Rina (and it was weird calling her Rina - but she’d insisted, since they were teammates, that they call her that, which Taiga couldn’t really not agree too since the purple-haired woman insisted on “team bonding”) perked up at the sound of her name. “What about me?”

“You and Taiga will tell me about whatever crazy thing is up with the two of you after school, right?” Niko said. “I know you’re involved in it somehow. You keep looking at him weird.”

“Sure.” Rina agreed. “I can tell you now if you want.”

“Class is going to start soon though, and we won’t be the only ones in the classroom for long.” Taiga pointed out. “So we’d have to say after school just to make sure people don’t think we’re crazy.”

Rina pouted for a few seconds, before sighing and nodding. Taiga wondered where her blue dragon was - she seemed very protective of the thing, so it (he?) was probably around somewhere, just where Taiga couldn’t see. Taiga knew that his own familiar was asleep somewhere curled in the corner, where he wouldn’t be knocked into by stray limbs of people moving around. 

A classmate of their walked into the classroom then, and slowly the class filled more as people shuffled in closer and closer to when the school day would start. Niko nodded at Taiga, and then at Rina a few desks away towards one of the walls rather than the middle of the room. When their teacher arrived, the students all got to work and tried to go about like normal.

Taiga was a little nervous about after school, but - it would be fine. It would be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feel free to leave comments of reviews or whatever else!
> 
> niko needs more fics with him. he seems pretty neat


	8. VIII - Ad Mahemium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuu does not know what's going on. There's a battle against a Husk that he's only tangentially involved in. It's very confusing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -shows up 16 days late- hi, i'm hollow, and i think i might be going through a writer's block? it's been hard to make anything recently. 
> 
> also, i'm kind of out of ideas for this fic? i didn't know what i was doing when i started it and i sure as heck don't know what i'm doing now. either way, it'll probably not have a very definitive ending, if any ending at all. maybe i'll just write the next chapter as some sort of attempt to do so and call it a day, who knows. this was a fun au but ultimately i was not as invested in it as i wanted to be and the result is that i have no plans for this, i'm making everything up as i go. so that's fun.
> 
> chapter title means "the mayhem"

Yuu had no idea what was going on.

  
  


They were fighting Husks.

  
  


There were also more children who wielded magic - some of them were his age at seventeen, he thought two of them were fifteen? And some of them were a little older.

  
  


Keisuke was there, because Keisuke had seen Yuu’s stressed face and demanded that Yuu explain, and Yuu had done so, because Yuu was  _ tired _ .

  
  


So now Keisuke was there, and so was Yuu, and that woman with the purple hair, and several other children. And they were all fighting a large Husk, one that looked vaguely like a large purple horse.  _ Husks, and Familiars _ , Yuu decided,  _ are very weird . _

  
  


He ducked out of the way of a stray attack. One of the kids was a girl with a little blue dragon. It wasn’t the dragon that was noticeable, no, just the fact that she seemed determined to  _ drop-kick the Husk _ and her blue dragon seemed to be the only thing stopping her from doing so.

  
  


She also seemed to have a friend with blue-ish hair and an orange dinosaur, but Yuu had really stopped paying attention this point, because his own Familiar had let out a trill of alarm at the reappearance of the Husk that had been stalking him. Pink-red sleeves and needles for fingers, and Yuu’s familiar, small as she was, puffed up her fur as much as she could and  _ hissed _ at the beast.

  
  


Keisuke happened to be right next to the thing, and Yuu could either: run away (very safe, meant the Husk was farther away), or grab Keisuke and  _ then _ run away (riskier, he’d get closer to the Husk and he really didn’t want to do that, but Yuu wasn’t about to just abandon his boyfriend).

  
  


Yuu was about to step forward and make a decision when -

  
  


Well. Let’s just say that the black-haired girl with an armored samurai dragon took care of the host. By slashing and stabbing at it with those oddly-curved swords. Repeatedly.

  
  


At least now Yuu wouldn’t have to worry about it  _ and _ he could now run to Keisuke?

  
  


Yuu needed a  _ nap _ after the chaos of today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't you just love when a person you only just met gets rid of your archnemesis in a brutal and violent way so now you can just peacefully snuggle your boyfriend and not have to worry about it anymore?

**Author's Note:**

> questions? opinions? random thoughts? leave a comment! (seriously i crave comments, i love seeing what you guys think. please interact i wanna know what you guys like or don't like or what you notice and don't notice)
> 
> also you can find all of my rambling about this au on the miracles verse server (as if was first made and refined there) if you want to check it out! https://discord.gg/FTkZkyy
> 
> chapters will be posted whenever they're written and i have no schedule for this, but i'll try to at least post a chapter once a month. (also these chapters are so much shorter than what i'm used to writing, it's actually really nice. a nice breath of air. not as much to scroll through to read)


End file.
